Merry Christmas, Emma Swan!
by OnceUponAWriter88
Summary: It's Christmas Time in Storybrooke! Charming Family Holiday fluff. Chapter 2: The Charming Family decorates their tree.
1. Chapter 1

"Emma…" I hear a soft voice calling my name and pulling me from my blissful slumber. I moan tiredly and force my eyes to open. I am greeted with the sight of my mother. She is standing over me with a large, cheerful grin on her face.

"Time to wake up sleeping beauty." She coos softly.

"M' not Aurora." I mutter, turning back over to bury my head in the pillows.

"You have to get up! We all agreed we'd go and pick out a tree this morning!"

"I never agreed to do _anything_ this early." I protest burrowing further into my pillows.

"Come on, Emma!" She whines. I lay still and try to pretend I've fallen back asleep in hopes that she'll give up and leave me be. "Emma!" she huffs. "I know you're not asleep!" Everything is quiet for a moment until I hear her sigh followed by the sound of her footsteps leaving the room.

Success! I smile contently and bask in the warmth of my bed as I began to drift back to sleep. My success was short lived however as suddenly my warm covers are viciously yanked from me by my _lovely_ mother. "Mom!" I yell.

"Get up!" she demands using that tone I have come to recognize as her "you-better-listen-young-lady-I'm-your-mother" tone. Normally I would argue but it's too early and I don't have the energy to. So, I sigh, defeated and push myself up out of bed.

"Alright, you win. I'm up." She smiles in triumph and skips back downstairs after informing me that breakfast was ready and we would be leaving in two hours. I get dressed and hurry downstairs, my stomach rumbling at the smell of the food.

"Morning Em!" my Dad greets me as I plop down at the table. He slides me a cup of coffee and a plate of fluffy pancakes covered with sweet syrup and three slices of crispy bacon on the side. I smile in gratitude and dig in. My mom emerges from the bedroom a diaper bag slung over her shoulder and carrying a bottle in one hand and a sleeping baby Neal in the other.

"Everything ready?" she asks my dad.

"Yep!" he responds. "I already called Regina and let her know we'd be stopping by to pick up Henry in a few."

"Okay." She says. "I have Neal's stuff all packed. He has a fresh bottle, plenty of diapers and wipes, and a change of clothes just in case. Are you ready Emma?"

"Mmhm" I reply scarfing down my last bite of pancakes.

"Alright, grab your jacket and hat and let's go."

The bitter, cold air stings my skin as we walk aimlessly around the Christmas tree farm. "Are we done yet?" I moan. "These trees all look the same let's just pick one and get out of this fricken cold."

"But Mom" Henry whines "We have to pick out the _perfect_ tree." I roll my eyes. I'll never understand all this "picking out the perfect tree" nonsense. It's just a tree what's the point? They're all practically the same. We should have just gotten a fake one, would have been less of a hassle. But _no_ , my mother insisted that we are going to have a "real" Christmas with a "real" tree. And of course, Dad and Henry (especially Henry) were quick to agree with her.

So, here we are walking around in the freezing cold just to find some measly tree to stuff in the tiny apartment. My parents and Henry carefully look around, examining each tree and discussing it while I trek along behind them. Right now my parents are talking about one tree my dad picked. Mom thinks it's too tall to fit in the apartment but Dad thinks otherwise. He tries to estimate the height, using his arms as a make-shift ruler. I glance around to try and see where Henry has wandered off to. I spot him a little ways ahead. I can tell he is concentrating by the expression on his face as he looks around at all the trees. His concentrated expression soon turns into a familiar smile, his eyes sparkling with joy.

"Hey guys, over here." He calls. "I think I found it." We walk over to him and he points to a tree. It's about medium height, not too big to where it wouldn't fit in the apartment but just the right size, dark green with branches that hang perfectly from its round truck. It's like something I've only seen in the movies. I wrap my arm around Henry and smile proudly.

"Kid, I think you just found the perfect Christmas tree."

" _Our_ perfect Christmas tree." My mom corrects smiling.

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	2. Chapter 2

After hauling the large tree up the stairs and cramming it into our small apartment, it was time to decorate it. At some point my mom had decided to put on some Christmas music so now we were all buzzing around the tree hanging various ornaments as we sang and hummed along to "Jingle Bells". Although I was hesitant about all of this Christmas stuff at first I have to admit I was beginning to enjoy it. Not as much as my Dad seems to be however, as he loudly bellows the lyrics swinging his arm up dramatically to emphasize. Add to the list of things that Disney got wrong; try as he must, Prince Charming _cannot_ sing. It's pretty funny to watch him attempt though. Snow White on the other hand, can sing. Although her voice is a lot different than her Disney counterpart's high-pitched and squeaky voice, having more of a soothing and gentle tone. I can almost picture what it would have been like if I had grown up with her; falling asleep to the calming sound of her lullabies each night.

"Emma, you okay sweetie?" asks my mom in a concerned voice. I jump slightly, startled and shake my head as I realize I've been staring at her this whole time.

"Oh um yeah I'm fine." I answer awkwardly turning my gaze back to the tree. I reach down to pick up another decoration out of the large box filled to the brim with a variety of different ornaments. Mary Margret seemed to have acquired quite the collection throughout the cursed years. Many of the ornaments were made by some of her students, paper angles, beaded candy canes, and painted stars, just to name a few. Looking at all of the hand-made ornaments reminds me of something.

"I'll be right back." I announce, running up the stairs to my room. I reach under my bed and pull out the box filled with some of my old things.

I remember one foster home that I was in during the holidays. The mom was very uptight and high maintenance, everything had to be perfect, especially her Christmas tree. It was an artificial white tree. I remember thinking how silly it was that someone would have a white tree when any other tree I had seen was always green. On the tree she hung only red and white decorations, making it look like something out of a fancy catalog instead of an actual family Christmas tree.

I was very young at the time, only about 5 or 6 and I thought I might be able to win her affection so I made her an ornament to go on the tree. It was fairly simple just a white clay snowflake I had made in school but my young and naïve self had poured my heart out into making it in hopes that it'd make her like me. Instead she had snubbed her nose at it before telling me I was stupid to think she'd want such an ugly thing hanging on her gorgeous tree then she threw it down breaking it in half. Through tears I had gathered my destroyed gift and ran up to my bed, burying my face in my baby blanket and clutching the ornament to me as I wept. My older foster sister had found me later and I explained what had happened holding out the broken ornament to show her. She helped me glue it back together and handed it back to me, telling me to keep it and that one day I'd have a real mom to give it to, one that would appreciate it. I never thought that day would come.

After rummaging through the box I find it. I slide the box back under my bed and return downstairs.

I walk over to where my mom is still hanging ornaments and tap her on the shoulder. She turns around and I hold out the ornament.

"What's this?" she asks gently taking it from my hand.

"It's um… just some ornament I had uh made when I was younger… I thought maybe you might… uh you might want to… hang in on the tree." I spit out nervously looking down at my feet. I feel her hand cup my face and she tilts my head up so we are face to face. There are tears in her eyes and I can feel my eyes beginning to water as well.

"Thank you, baby." She whispers tilting my head back down and leaning up to place a soft kiss against my forehead. She smiles at me warmly and I smile back. "Where should we hang it?" she asks excitedly looking back at the tree. "Oh I know right here!" she answers herself. She hangs it in the front of the tree. "There." She says wrapping her arms around me and placing another kiss on my cheek.

"Okay that's all the ornaments!" announces my dad, "Now we just need to put the star on top." He turns to me handing me the star. "Princess, would you please do the honors?" I look up to the top of the tree that nearly touches the ceiling.

"Um I don't think I can reach that." I tell him.

"No problem." He says crouching down behind me. Before I can process what's happening his arms are around my waist and he's hoisting me up into the air.

"Wooh there." I say grabbing onto his arms with my free hand.

"Don't worry. I got you." He assures me. I reach up and place the star on top of the tree.

"I got!" He gently sets me back down then wraps his arm over my shoulder. My mom and Henry join us as we all look up admiring our tree.

"Now what?" Henry asks excitedly.

"Oh I know." Dad says. "How about we make some holiday cookies?" My mom rolls her eyes at their unhealthy sweet tooth.

"Oh yeah come on grandma please?" begs Henry.

"Yeah please Grandma?" Dad joins in giving her his signature Charming smile.

"Alright fine" she agrees.

"Yay!" they shout excitedly running into the kitchen. Mom rolls her eyes again at their childish behavior.

"Boys" I say shaking my head.

"Yeah right." She teases "I know you'll be in there fighting over the cookie dough with them." I shrug knowing she's right.

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	3. Chapter 3

After a little searching we found one of Mary Margret's old cookie recipes. Mom read off the instructions while Dad, Henry and I gathered the ingredients and mixed them together. We ended up making a huge mess; flour coated the counter tops and cookie dough dripped into the floor.

Mom was right; I did fight over the cookie dough along with the guys. We would wait until she wasn't looking then race to swab some from the bowl. Popping our fingers in our mouths to get rid of the evidence before she turned back around, throwing us playful evil glares as we tried to hold back our giggles. She eventually put a stop to our mischief, claiming that we wouldn't have enough left for the actually cookies if we keep swiping the dough. So we balled up the remaining dough and popped them in the oven.

Henry suggested that we watch a Christmas movie while we waited for the cookies to bake. We dug through my our collection of movies and after some debating decided on watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". Henry grabbed a pillow and some blankets from upstairs and made himself comfortable on the floor in front of the tv. Mom and Dad both sat on the couch leaving space for me to settle in between them.

It wasn't long before the timer went off announcing that the cookies were ready. We paused the movie and ran to the kitchen eagerly. After pulling the tray out of the oven Mom shooed our eager hands away saying we had to wait for them to cool. We decided to make some hot chocolate to go with them.

I settled back down on the couch, a plate of cookies in my lap a mug filled with hot chocolate with cinnamon in my hand and my parents sitting on either side of me. After finishing my cookies and hot chocolate I began to feel tired. My dad draped his arm over my shoulder; an action that would once scare me away but instead I welcomed the comforting gesture, cuddling to his side and laying my head against his shoulder.

I must have dozed off at some point because that's all I remember. I woke up this morning in my bed; which is a mystery because I don't remember even walking back upstairs. I stare at the clock impatiently. It's only 7:23 way too early to be up. But for some reason I can't get back to sleep. Maybe it's the excitement of finally being able to spend Christmas with a real family. Or maybe it's because my stomach is aching from eating all those cookies and cookie dough. Either way I can't get back to sleep. So instead I am staring at the clock as I wait for everyone else to get up. The wait isn't long though as I begin to hear some noise coming from downstairs. I go downstairs to see my mom walking around the room rocking a fussy Neal in her arms.

"Good morning." I greet quietly.

"Oh well good morning Emma." She whispers. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I couldn't fall back asleep." I shrug moving to sit at the counter. She continues to walk around rocking Neal until he falls back asleep. She lays Neal down in his crib covering him up and comes back to sit in the seat next to me.

"Everything okay sweetie?" she questions gently as she puts a hand on my knee.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I answer with a small smile which she returns.

"So it will probably be a little while before your dad and Henry get up." She begins. "Soo how about I'll let you open a present now?"

"Oh no its fine Mom I can wait." I say trying to hide my excitement. It's been years since I got an actual present from anyone and I was finding it hard to act casual and not act like… well like a little kid on Christmas morning.

"Oh come on. Just a little one. From me."

"Alright." I say finally. She jumps up a large smile on her face and goes to retrieve the gift. I laugh lightly at her excitement that matches mine. She comes back holding a medium sized box wrapped in shiny blue wrapping paper with a small white bow on top. She hands it to me and I begin to carefully unwrap it.

"Come on. Just tear into it. We're not keeping the wrapping paper." Apparently I wasn't unwrapping it fast enough for my eager mother who's practically jumping up and down with excitement. I roll my eyes playfully at her and then start to unwrap it faster. Tearing off the wrapping paper until there's just a black box in my hands. I glance at Mom questioningly at she nods in return.

"Go ahead. Open it."

I carefully lift up the top of the box and gasp as I see what's inside. I reach in the box and carefully lift out its contents holding it up delicately as I gaze at it in shock.

"It is okay?" my Mom asks nervously.

"Yeah Mom. It's…. This is … wow. Are…. Are you sure you want me to have it?" I ask as I stare at the object in my hand . I recognize it from Henry's storybook. It's Mom's tiara. Her princess tiara. The one she got from her own mother many years ago before she died.

"Of course I want you to have it. I would have given it to you a lot sooner, if things had been different. But sooner late than never I guess." She smiles at me warmly tears sparking in her eyes.

"Wow I don't know what to say. Thank you."

" You're welcome." She responds wrapping me in a tight hug. "Merry Christmas, baby."

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Thanks for reading please leave a review :). I may try an upload another chapter tommorrow if I have time. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!


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